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Vanessa and Seigfreid the Magic Seahorse

by Peter Rattray

138 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-2517; ISBN 1-4251-5618-5; US$36.50, C$36.50, EUR24.93, £18.84

A wonderful story about Seigfreid a Giant Sea horse who is saved from drowning by a young girl, Vanessa. This is the beginning of exciting underwater adventure across the vast Pacific Ocean.

About the Book

Vanessa and Seigfreid the Magic Seahorse is a children's fictional story about a giant sea horse that becomes tangled in a fishing net and then subsequently saved by the heroine of the story Vanessa.

The story is set between Sydney Harbour and beautiful Lord Howe Island and the mysterious Balls Pyramid that lies close by. The giant sea horses have many magic resources and can communicate with humans via their unicorn shaped horn on the top of their heads as well as showing humans how to breath under water. The giant sea horses originally lived at Pearl Island, near Toba in Japan, and taught the Toba Women how to breath underwater to find the treasured Black Pearls of the Pacific Ocean. The Toba women still dive today and stay under water for remarkable lengths of time without any outside assistance.

After saving Seigfreid, Vanessa's underwater adventures begins almost disastrously in Sydney Harbour where she and her sister's are attacked by a large Bull shark and the fortunately saved by Seigfreid's magic powers. A strong bond is formed between Vanessa and Seigfreid and even after Seigfreid returns to his home hundreds of kilometers away, to Castle Rock they are able to communicate through Seigfreid's magic horn. Vanessa however is sworn to secrecy, apart from her sisters and brother, about the location of Castle Rock and their magic powers. The sea horses are afraid other humans will try to catch them for their magical powers as happened a long time ago. Vanessa, her sisters and brother eventually travel to where Seigfreid lives at Castle Rock (Ball's Pyramid) where another exciting underwater adventure begins. They meet a herd of thousands of giant seahorses who live on the sea grass plateaus underneath Castle Rock. They even get to see a sea horse race around the rock and are also there when the sea horses are attacked by three giant squid. Vanessa and her brother come to the rescue save the day as they show the sea horses how to harness their magic powers and successfully fight off the squids and become underwater heroes.

About the Author

Peter lives in Sydney Australia with his family. He grew up as a child on Sydney Harbour and became fascinated with sea horses and weedy sea dragons that live in certain bays around the harbour. The book was written to help stop the extinction of this beautiful marine animal as it becomes an endangered species world wide.

Peter is also a keen yachtsman and has sailed in a yacht race past Castle Rock on route to Lord Howe Island both of which are mentioned in the book.

He is also a keen photographer and artist. This is his first published book